Car-coupling.



' A. KELLY.

GAR COUPLING. APPLIOTION FILED NOV. 18, 1905.

f u unnamgnm m I a 6 A O 23 14 21 20 Z \25 PATENTBD FEB. 27, 1906.

lnvent or I To all whom it may concern:

burg, in the county of Dauphin and State of i the Janney or pivotal knuckle type, and

U IT D STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALONZO KELLY, OF HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH TO FRANCIS R. SCOTT, ONE-FOURTH TO WILLIAM H. JOYCE, AND ONE-FOURTH TO JOSEPH C. SMITH, OF HARRIS- BURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

CAR-COUPLING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 18,

Patented Feb. 27, 1906.

1905. Serial No. 288,008.

Be it known that I, ALoNzo KELLY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Harris- Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Car-Coupler, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to car-couplers of has for its object to provide novel means for successively releasing and opening the knuckle in a very simple, positive, and efficient manner.

A further object of the invention is to provide for opening the knuckle by an impact blow rather than by a pushing movement in order that the knuckle may be promptly and positively swung to its open position as distinguished from being pushed to a partlyopen position.

With these and other objects in view the present invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, shown in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes in the form, proportion, size, and minor details may be made within the scope of the claims without de parting from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a horizontal sectional view of a car-coupler embodying the features of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view there of. Fig.3 is a detail view of the pivotal kicker.

Like characters of reference designate corresponding parts in all of the figures of the drawings.

The present coupler includes the usual or any preferred form of draw-bar 1, having a conventional head 2, upon which is mounted a pivotal knuckle 3, having a tailpiece 4, working in the open front of the head and across the top of an upstanding flange 5. Extending through an opening 6 in the top of the draw-head is a lever 7, fulcrumed intermediate of its ends, as at 8, at the top of the draw-head with its lower end designed to engage the free end of the tailpiece 4, and

thereby lock the pivotal knuckle. The forward swinging movement of the lower end of the lever is limited by the flange 5, and the upper end portion of the lever is inclined rearwardly, as at 9, to form a trip for engagement by the crank-arm 10 of any ordinary pr preferred form of coupling mechanism. Within the draw-head there is a rod 11, working longitudinally through the head and through the hollow draw-bar, the front end of the rod being provided with an eye 12, engaging with a hook 13, carried by the rear of the lower portion of the lever 7. The rear end of this rod terminates in an eye 14, through which passes an upright pin 15, having a head 16 to prevent the pin from falling downwardly through the opening 17 in the top of the draw-bar, while the lower reduced end portion of the pin works in a slot 18, formed longitudinally in the bottom of the draw-bar. The reduced portion of the pin forms an annular shoulder 19 to limit upward play of the rear end of the rod. A helical spring 20 embraces the rod and bears with its forward end against a shoulder 21, fixed upon the rod, and at its rear end against an abutment 22, having its upright edges received in grooves 23 in the opposite internal walls of the hollow draw-bar.

In rear of the lever 7 and the tailpiece 4 of the knuckle there is a horizontally-disposed lever 24, which is fulcrumed upon a pin 25, carried by a boss or a post 26, rising from the bottom of the draw-head. The pin is of course reduced so as to form an annular shoulder at the base thereof for supporting the lever 24 above the bottom of the drawhead in the same horizontal plane with the tailpiece of the pivotal knuckle. The fulcrum of this lever is near its inner end, which is bifurcated or forked, as at 27, to accommodate the rod or bar 11, the shoulder 21 being pressed against the rear side of the bifurcated inner terminal of the lever 24, so as to yieldably hold the latter in the position shown in Fig. 1.

With the parts in the positions shown in Figs. 1 and 2, when the upper end of the lever 7 is swung forwardly its lower end will of course swing rearwardly beyond the tailpiece 4, and thereby release the pivotal knuckle, whereupon the lever 7 will strike the inner end of the lever 24 with a reasonable impact, and said lever 24 will in turn impact with the tailpiece of the knuckle, and thereby quickly and positively kick the latter open. It will here be explained that normally the space between the lower end portion of the lever 7 and the inner end portion of the kicker 24 is such as to permit of an initial movement of the lever 7 to clear the knuckle and then impact with the kicker in order that the knuckle may be released before the kicker operates thereon. A very important feature of advantage resides in the fact that the locking-lever 7 acquires momentum before it strikes the kicker, wherefore the latter is given a quick swinging movement, so as to positively kick the knuckle open rather than to merely push the same to a partially-open position. After the knuckle has been opened the spring 20 will of course return the locking-lever 7 and the kicker 24 to their normal positions, and it will now be explained that the space normally maintained between the locking-lever and the kicking-lever is such as to permit of the lockinglever being swung rearwardly without engaging the kicker when the tailpiece of the knuckle wipes past the locking-lever in returning to its closed position.

It Wlll of course be understood that the bifurcation 27 in the inner end of the kickinglever 24 is of awidth and length to permit the eye 12 andthe hook 13 passing into the bifurcation without contact with its walls in order that the lever 7 may directly contact with the lever 24, whereby the hook and eye are not subjected to impacts and are therefore not liable to become broken.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimedis- 1. A car-coupler having a pivotal knuckle provided with a tailpiece, a locking-lever engaging the free end of the tailpiece and looking the knuckle, an endwise-movable rod connected to the lever, an abutment slidably pierced by the rod, a pivotal kicker slidably pierced by the rod with its outer end in cooperative relation with the pivotal knuckle, and a spring embracing the rod and bearing against the abutment and the kicker to yieldably hold the latter in its normal position, there being a space between the lever and the kicker to permit rearward movement of the lever out of engagement with the tailpiece before engaging the kicker.

2. A car-coupler having a pivotal knuckle provided with a tailpiece, a locking-lever engaging the free end of the tailpiece or locking the knuckle, an endwise-movable rod connected to the lever, an abutment slidably pierced by the rod, a pivotal kicker slidably pierced by the rod with its outer end in 006perative relation with the pivotal knuckle, a shoulder fixed upon the rod in rear of the kicker, and a spring bearing against the abutment and the shoulder to yieldably maintain the latter against the kicker, there being a space between the lever and the kicker to permit rearward movement of the lever out of engagement with the tailpiece before engaging the kicker.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ALONZO KELLY. 

